I'm not really a melancholy man, but....

This is a great song and melody and performance and video presentation.... Watching the clouds go by with Mike Pinder and The Moody Blues.

A New Month

Last month--well, with just one posting at the beginning, you can tell that it was another one filled too much to do, too many distractions, and when the moments were right, too much procrastination. This time, also, some unfortunate news that relates to my personal life came to the forefront of my thoughts and emotions.

As usual, there must be music when I return. So here it is:



I very much recommend the CD, btw.

Another Book!

Another book when none of the earlier ones have been finished.... But on May 23 the idea came, as did the urgency. So something was written... Surprising me. We'll see.

The Immortal Soul Sweetened by Mortality

.... Or the mortal soul freed by death to join immortality forever.

The world within, the world outside, merged into one expansive universe. Each of us has the same understanding.

Finally!

Today I sent out a translation submission to two major publishers--something I've been meaning to do for months. When you finally DO IT (whatever it is you've been wanting to do), there's a psychological release of a great understanding that it was all simple and could have been just as simple when you had the motivation first.

Anyway, as I was preparing the submissions, mathematical chances fell into place. If I needed just two more sheets of paper to type something out, two more sheets would be exactly there, left in what had been a pile of paper. Things like that. Not that I ascribe any supernatural elements to the preparations, just the steady appearance of random chance that I find interesting. Now, if the submission to either publishing house meets with success, then I should reexamine the situation.

All of us get these "finally!" moments when we take action after action has been delayed. These moments are very good, indeed, and produce the energy for achieving more "finally" moments that haven't yet arrived.

This translation project is not part of the two goals I referred to in my last post. Close to them, however, and certainly a priority in the overall scheme of life accomplishments. For those two more immediate goals I want to, need to, say "Finally! in the coming months.

Back to the translation submission: Long shots, even though I believe that if accepted, the resulting published book would meet with wide notice, critical acclaim and at the very least good sales. But the publication of translations in the United States is primarily limited to the small press, something I want to get out of.

May 1st

Today is the traditional Workers' Day and an even more traditional pagan day of celebrating something or another, probably whatever was considered spring in those ancient times or the coming of warm weather, the earth blooming and becoming productive again.

It's a new month anyway and a good moment to recommit to one's own personal work and yearned-for productiveness.

They are several goals I'd like to actualize in the coming summer months. Two are worth mentioning in just a journal notation type of way: One is to finish off a project I started several years ago and which I promise myself every other month to finally finish. The other is to substantially complete a book of fiction whose concept is, I think, unique and whose message (yes, there is one at least) is vital to the world some of us live in. The novel has already been begun, but still is in the brewing stage effectively. It is not the first time I've tried my hand at a longer fictional work (I've already had short stories published here and there), but I only finished one novel a long time ago, and it was trash and almost went into the trash. This one, the new one, is different, however. Because now I have something to say, and I believe I know how to say it.

There are other concurrent and important projects I must somehow attend to, but the above two are the ones that will critically determine my psychological state as the year nears its end. The most spirit impacting will be the novel goal. This I know. Of course, there will be unforeseen events that will have their influence, too. But the impulses of body and mind, and the discipline of both, must be directed toward the two goals. Life will deal with the rest.

Musical Interlude

Whenever I'm away from the blog for a few weeks (which means things have been personally hectic), it's always good to come back with a musical clip from You Tube. This one brought tears to my weary eyes. Perhaps the Halina Poswiatowska poetry I had been reading beforehand had primed me emotionally, perhaps the cloudy, lonely day outside or that the actor reminded me somewhat of my son. Whatever the reason, this clip melted me. It is a montage of photos from a Polish Chopin film (CHOPIN PRAGNIENIE MILOSCI, 2002) scored with Chopin's Waltz no. 19 in A Minor. I must see this film!